Julie Creffield is a freelance artist with more than 10 years’ experience of working in London and the South East. She works predominantly with young people in a range of media, driven by the needs and interests of the groups themselves, including performance, dance, photography, video, animation and the spoken word. An overriding theme that can often be found in Julie’s work is the idea of space, place and identity - who I am, where I am and what does it all mean?

Julie started her professional career whilst still studying aged 17, volunteering as associate director on a project for young people called ‘We all come from somewhere else’ which toured Newham schools. In 2000 she set up Urban8 Productions as part of her final year project at University, working with 7 other young women from East London to create ‘Lookin In’ an 11-minute multimedia dance piece that explored themes of cultural identity and motherhood. She worked for 3 years on Being Here, an arts regeneration programme in Southend for young people, which has since been nationally recognised as an example of good practice. She was also a sessional usher at Theatre Royal Stratford East for 5 years, and worked part-time in the Box Office at Stratford Circus when it first opened in 2001.

Julie has worked in a range of community development posts over the past 8 years. She was Chair of E7arts, a network for artists in Newham offering a programme of information, training, and showcasing opportunities, and she project- managed ‘Heavy‘, a website and magazine project in Stratford for young people. Recently Julie has been working within her community towards the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, running the award winning Newham’s Volunteer Project. She is currently working across London as Volunteering and Community Sports Manager as part of London Council’s 2012 Team.